Hi there,

Thank you for your You Make Change submission.

Firstly, just to clarify that the shuttle bus that runs from Highfield to Winchester during the week is actually provided by the University. The reason this only goes to Winchester is because it is funded by the Arts and Hummanities faculty. The additional trial weekend service of the shuttle, although run by the Students Union was secured with funding by the University also.

I am very aware of the problems surrounding transport to the hospital and have been working hard to try and improve this in a number of ways. Firstly, with regard to buses, I have been working with the University's transport manager, following the results of the Sites Survey we put out just before Christmas and other feedback from students to review the Unilink services and in particular the U6 route. After undertaking a full network review, they have confirmed that they are currently working on a plan to increase frequency and reliability. Unfortunately, these changes won't be able to come in until September, when they do a timetable change as there would be two much disruption to the network.

However, I have also suggested things such as student only buses at peak times to ensure people are getting to their lectures on time and additional buses on weekends which is something they are looking into and could be put into place before. 

Secondly, I have been working with the Southampton Common Forum and sit on their travel and saftey sub-committee. There is a lot of work that is in the process to improve the saftey of the common, such as widening paths, putting in more lighting and increasing signposting. We are also working with MyJourney to improve cycle saftey.

The Southampton Common Forum and the University are working with the local council to put in a bid for a significant amount of money from the government to improve transport in Southampton. If approved, there are plans to improve cycle routes and to possibly build another Interchange at the hospital. Obviously this is provisional and I cannot make any promises about when this will happen as it is dependent on the success of the bid, however I hope it assures you that the hospital is very much on the map in terms of improving transport and accessibility for students.

In the short term, after consultation with the current MedSoc president, I will be approaching the Medicine faculty about the possibility of them funding an additional stop to the hospital in Winchester on the WSA Shuttle Bus route. 

If you have any suggestions for how we can practically improve things further, I'd be very happy to listen and chat these through. My email is vpcommunities@susu.org.

All the best,

Emily Harrison

Vice President Student Communities 2018-19.